very nice blog lots of good info , thanks mate so much :thumbup1:

I've been in Norway last year in August, visited Oslo, and I have no words to describe the beauty of that city. Very very small place, but in the same time, it's very cute town. Regarding your questions about temperatures, it was quite cold there even if it was August (about 20 Celsius and sometimes less than 20). I do not agree with this ->

The food and drinks in supermarkets were reasonable

Everything is pretty expensive in Norway and food in supermarkets as well. For example, I paid the cheapest bread in a supermarket about 5eur and yogurt 250ml about 7eur. I think it's not cheap!

Thanks for your reply Luckytravel. We are planning to take as much food as we can to help with the costs. Looking forward to it though... not long to go!

Hey there. We are currently returning from Nordkapp, so actual advices are - be prepared for very cold weather - min was 2.5 celsius and all day raining. I am riding with my thermo t-shirt and pants underwear, hoodie, jacket with protectors and second jacket with goretex and feeling pretty ok. Also don't underestimate service of the bike. Expect lot of kms, we are now stucked in Tromsø and were told that noone in north Norway has a chain replacement kit for BMW bike on stock, even BMW authorized service. Option is standard 3-5 days delivery or overnight delivery for 1000NOK. So the final thing is - expect everything is very expensive - bread 5€, common burger at gas station starting at 5€, coke 4€ etc. On the other hand - it's the most beautiful country i've ever been to - be prepared for stunning views and roads with almost no traffic with great engineering ;) ... Happy travels P.


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Thanks Petr for the up to date Norway info. We leave on Friday so not long to go now... we're also having bike trouble, which we hope will be sorted today! Hope you get your bike back on the road soon, Beej

I really enjoy reading this... -as i'm about to start my tour to Norway, too :thumbup1:
My plan is to go thru Sweden somewhere as north as Kiruna and then explore small roads in Norway towards north.

Riding Norway
 

Hi everyone riding Norway.
I just got back from familyvist in UK.
Looking at the weather predictions on yr.no it seems there is a stable situation with not much rain. This I would call optimistic.
If you find your gear is not holding up try the farmer/fisherman stores like Felleskøpet or Samvirkelaget locally, or the big stores selling construction materials and tools. Maxbo and the like, usually on the outskirts of town.
All sportsshops have bad weather gear, but the emhasis is on lightness and ventilation, which is not robust enough on a bike in bad weather. You need workingmans gear.
For cold conditions you need wool, the technical fibre underwear is for skiers and runners in motion. It wicks away sweat as long as you keep moving, stop, or sit on a bike, and you get cold.
Cotton is a big no-no for bad conditions.
I am away a lot with no net the next few weeks, but please contact me if you have questions, maybe I can help.
Safe travels

Peter, in Oslo

I went out there last August/September for three weeks and had temperatures ranging from 4C to 29C with only a couple of days rain, wished I had my heated jacket at times but I do feel the cold. Travelled up via Sweden, ferry to Finland, up to the top of Finland & into Norway then slowly headed south-ish vaguely following the E6 but taking plenty of detours.

Didn't have any issues with mozzies and they normally love me - spray & coils worked ok.

I had a few issues getting petrol in Finland & had to use my spare can twice! Lots of unmanned automated fuel stations which would not accept any of my cards & I had a selection of three different ones!

Nordkapp is a marmite sort of place, I loved it along with the wilds of the north. Lofotens are glorious as are the island/ferry route you can take from Bodo south (Fv17 is the road) to Levang. Geiranger/trollstigen are wonderful if you can catch them when it's quiet as are most of the "tourist routes" (http://www.nasjonaleturistveger.no/en).

Need to go back to see more of the south as I ran out of time. Have a great trip & my tip is don't over plan your trip - go with the flow & have room for detours & side trips as there's plenty to see.

A good resource is The Arctic Highway by John Douglas, it is out of print & was written a long time ago but the vast majority of the things mentioned are still there. Can normally pick one up for £30-35.


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Just thought of another thing. Often you'll come across a relatively new tunnel and the old road is still there. Sometimes the old road is worth taking for a mini adventure - it will definitely be more scenic than the tunnel and may or may not be rideable to the other end of the tunnel. Attachment 15690


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